Bright & Mount Buffalo
Category: Personal
A weekend trip to the alpine region of Victoria, to re-visit an old favourite and see something new. And pick mushrooms!
Mallacoota
Interstate travel in Australia is still a gamble, so we explored a new corner of Victoria instead, this small holiday and fishing town near the border with New South Wales.
Charlie the Cat’s 2020
While the world of humans was going through the greatest global upheaval since World War II, nothing much changed in Charlie’s little world. Except that, thanks to the COVID-19 restrictions, he got to see a lot more of his personal food dispenser/masseuse/entertainer.
Quote of the Day – Age of 40
“The peak of youth, the foot of old age.”
New Zealand Car Trip 2009
2020 was supposed to be another big year of travel for me, with a four-week Europe trip in August and September including Iceland, the top country on my bucket list of places to go. Safe to say, COVID-19 tore these plans to shreds and there’s no certainty on whether any international travel will be possible this year at all. So I thought I’d look back and blog about one of my most memorable overseas holidays, a solo car trip in New Zealand.
Farewell Movie Rental Store
That’s it, it’s finally the end of an era. My favourite movie rental in Sandringham had closed down a few weeks ago, and now the last rental store standing in my area has been worn down by progress and is going out of business too. It’s time to give up and join the streaming masses I guess. There are still those small rental kiosks and online DVD hire where they send you movies by post, but it’s just not the same.
I’m sure that there’s plenty of good stuff to be found on Netflix, Stan and so on, and that once I start streaming I’d no more dream of going back than I would of swapping my iPhone for my ancient indestructible Nokia. But dammit I’m going to miss my weekend ritual of doing grocery shopping and dropping by the rental store. I always enjoyed the experience, saying hi to the familiar friendly faces behind the counter and leisurely perusing the shelves. My favourite store had an excellent selection of TV series and foreign and arthouse titles in particular; streaming is all fine and dandy but it’s not like I’m going to subscribe to every major media provider to cover all bases.
Best of all, having a deadline for returning the DVDs forced me to actually watch the movies I rented. I have a selection of DVDs at home I got years ago that are still sitting in their wrapping. There are so many other distractions these days, it’s easy to procrastinate and just keep on wasting time on the internet instead of dedicating a couple of hours to a film.
So goodbye movie rental stores and thanks for the memories.
Charlie the Cat at Two
My boy is now over two years old! I thought it would be fun to write an annual diary entry documenting Charlie’s past year. He’s not much of a scribbler, but I’m sure he’s fine with me stepping in as his ghostwriter while he pursues far more important matters, like a nap.
My First Memory
I always found fascinating the way the first few years of your life seem to be covered by impenetrable mental fog. My niece is closing on two and it’s weird to think that she’s unlikely to remember anything from what’s happening now.
Europe Trip: Italy
I’ve never been to Italy before, but I had no doubt that I’d absolutely love it, and surprise, I did.
